The document discusses the relationship between meaning in life and religious factors among USA undergraduates, highlighting how meaning mediates the effects of religiousness on well-being. It presents findings from a survey of 3,999 participants that explore various measures of religious beliefs, struggles, and their correlation with perceived meaning in life. The study identifies distinct psychological profiles linking high and low meaning to specific religious beliefs and attitudes, with implications for understanding religious impact on life meaning.

1. Introduction
Meaning in life: “The sense made of, and the significance felt regarding,
“the nature of one’s being and existence” (Steger et al., 2006).
Meaning in life relates moderately to religious factors at all levels of personality:
Beliefs – belief in afterlife (r = .32; Steger et al., 2010)
Behaviors – daily religious behaviors (γ = .20; Steger & Frazier, 2005)
Traits – intrinsic religiousness (r = .36; Byrd, Hageman, & Belle Isle, 2007)
Motives – religious goals & values (rs = .19–.28; Stauner & Ozer, 2010)
Struggle – divine, interpersonal, meaning, doubt (rs = -.18–.45; Exline et al., 2014)
Meaning may mediate effects of religiousness on well-being (Steger & Frazier, 2005).
In what other ways do religion/spirituality and meaning relate?
Method
Participants
N = 3,999 USA undergraduates Median age = 19 62% female
71% White / Caucasian / European American 71–79% Christian
Measures
Meaning in Life Questionnaire – Presence (5 items rated 1–7; Steger et al., 2006)
5 items assessing the subjective presence of meaning and purpose in life
Example item: “My life has no clear purpose.” (Loads negatively)
God Image (10 items rated 0–10; Exline, Grubbs, & Homolka, 2015; bifactor model)
Belief in Divine Intervention (6 items rated 1–6; Degelman & Lynn, 1995)
Interpersonal Responses to Struggle (6 items rated 0–10; Exline & Grubbs, 2011; 2 factors)
Religious Belief Salience (4 items rated 0–10; Blaine & Crocker, 1995)
E.g., “My religious/spiritual beliefs lie behind my whole approach to life.”
Christian Orthodoxy (6 items rated 1–6; Hunsberger et al., 1989)
Multidimensional Quest Orientation Scale (9 scales, 62 items rated 1–7; Beck & Jessup, 2004)
Spiritual Transformation Inventory (5 scales, 56 items rated 1–5; Hall, 2006)
Quest Orientation to Religion (12 items rated 0–10; Batson & Schoenrade, 1991)
Sources of Religious Doubt (20 items rated 1–7; Altemeyer & Hunsberger, 1997; 1 factor)
Religious and Spiritual Struggles (6 scales, 26 items rated 1–5; Exline et al., 2014)
Rated for applicability over past few months
Views of Suffering Scale (9 scales, 30 items rated 1–6; Hale-Smith, Park, & Edmondson, 2012)
Analyses
Factor correlations and 95% confidence intervals estimated in SEMs using 3-stage
WLSMV. Incomplete data excluded listwise by measure; ns = 3,348–3,919, except as noted.
Some measurement models modified to estimate general factors and improve fit.
Nick Stauner, Julie J. Exline, & Joshua A. Wilt Matthew J. Lindberg Kenneth I. Pargament
Case Western Reserve University Youngstown State University Bowling Green State University
References
Altemeyer, B., & Hunsberger, B. (1997).
Amazing conversions: Why some turn to faith
and others abandon religion. Amherst, NY:
Prometheus Books.
Batson, C. D., & Schoenrade, P. A. (1991).
Measuring religion as quest: 1) Validity
concerns. JSSR, 30(4), 416–429.
Beck, R., & Jessup, R. K. (2004). The
multidimensional nature of quest
motivation. JPT, 32(4), 283–294.
Blaine, B., & Crocker, J. (1995). Religiousness,
race, and psychological well-being:
Exploring social psychological moderators.
PSPB, 21(10), 1031–1041.
Byrd, K. R., Hageman, A., & Belle Isle, D.
(2007). Intrinsic motivation and subjective
well-being: The unique contribution of
intrinsic religious motivation. IJPR, 17(2),
141–156.
Degelman, D., & Lynn, D. (1995). The
development and preliminary validation of
the Belief in Divine Intervention Scale. JPT,
23(1), 37–44.
Exline, J. J., & Grubbs, J. B. (2011). "If I tell
others about my anger toward God, how
will they respond?" Predictors, associated
behaviors, and outcomes in an adult
sample. JPT, 39(4), 304–315.
Exline, J. J., Grubbs, J. B., & Homolka, S. J.
(2015). Seeing God as cruel or distant: Links
with divine struggles involving anger,
doubt, and fear of God's disapproval. IJPR,
25(1), 29-41.
Exline, J. J., Pargament, K. I., Grubbs, J. B., &
Yali, A. M. (2014). The Religious and
Spiritual Struggles scale: Development and
initial validation. PRS, 6(3), 208–222.
Hale-Smith, A., Park, C. L., & Edmondson, D.
(2012). Measuring beliefs about suffering:
Development of the Views of Suffering
Scale. Psychological Assessment, 24(4), 855–
866.
Hall, T. W. (2006). The spiritual transformation
inventory: A multidimensional measure of
relational spirituality for individual
assessment. Unpublished manuscript, Biola
University, La Mirada, CA.
Hunsberger, B. (1989). A short version of the
Christian orthodoxy scale. JSSR, 28(3), 360–
365.
Stauner, N., & Ozer, D. J. (2010). The motive
content of meaningful (and meaningless) lives.
Poster presented at the 15th European
Conference on Personality, Brno, Czech
Republic.
Steger, M. F., & Frazier, P. (2005). Meaning in
life: One link in the chain from
religiousness to well-being. JCP, 52(4), 574–
582.
Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M.
(2006). The meaning in life questionnaire:
Assessing the presence of and search for
meaning in life. JCP, 53, 80–93.
Steger, M. F., Pickering, N., Adams, E., Burnett,
J., Shin, J. Y., & Stauner, N. (2010). The
quest for meaning: Religious affiliation
differences in the correlates of religious
quest and search for meaning in life. PRS,
2(4), 206–226.
IJPR = International Journal for the
Psychology of Religion
PRS = Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
JCP = Journal of Counseling Psychology
JPT = Journal of Psychology and Theology
JSSR = Journal for the Scientific Study of
Religion
Acknowledgement
We wish to express our
gratitude for funding
from the John Templeton
Foundation (Grant
#36094).
Contact: NickStauner@gmail.com
Figure. Forest plot of factor correlations with meaning in life
Discussion
Meaning in life exhibits broad relationships with a diverse array of R/S constructs.
This may hold true in a more limited way for nonreligious people.
Positive relationships
Features of religious/spiritual beliefs/attitudes for participants reporting:
High meaning
• Sincerely devoted, not focused on managing reputation
• Close, positive, supportive relationships with God & spiritual group
• Conventional belief that good, personal, interventionist God transcends suffering
• Convicted that beliefs are well-explored, conclusive, and superior to alternatives.
• Positive about suffering, attributed to demons rather than self or chance
Low meaning
• Apathy, ambivalence, doubt, conflict, or anxiety regarding God or religion.
-0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
Religious beliefs
Factor r
Religious belief salience .43
Nonreligious belief salience (n = 533) .10 Nonreligion is less central
Fundamentalist view of sacred text (n = 2,846) .43
Christian orthodoxy (n = 2,184) .32
Disengagement from religion (n = 2,473) -.39 Reflects low religiousness
Religious exploration (n = 3,067) .26
Avoidance of religious questions -.19
Religious quest orientation -.15
Openness to doubt & alternative faith viewpoints .25
Universality – validity of all religions (n = 3,260) -.34
Clarity of religion .27
Complexity & difficulty of religion -.10
Religious doubts -.31
-0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
Relational (God & community)
Factor r Notes
Certainty of belief in God .41
Desire to believe in God .28
Personal relationship with God is possible, comprehensible, and desirable .40
God is loving, not cruel or distant .41 Nonbeliever r = .16, n = 212
God intervenes .42
Positive relationship with God & religion .40
Conflict with God & religion -.22 Weaker than positive aspect
Spiritual community involvement (n = 2,217) .41 Similar to relation with God
Extrinsic social motivation for religious attendance -.32
-0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
Religious/spiritual struggle & suffering
R/S struggle factor r
RSS: Divine -.19
RSS: Demonic .15 Correlates positively
RSS: Interpersonal -.10
RSS: Moral .01
RSS: Ultimate Meaning -.46 Strongest correlation
RSS: Doubt -.22
Social support with spiritual struggle .34
Social invalidation of spiritual struggle -.14 Weaker than support
Views of Suffering Scale factor r
Unorthodox God causes suffering -.31
Suffering is random -.30
Suffering is retribution for sins -.19
God has limited knowledge of suffering -.22
God suffers with humanity .27
Suffering is part of God's plan (Providence) .29
Prayer overcomes suffering .21
Suffering promotes growth (Soul-Building) .29
Encounter / Divine Responsibility composite .34